A Different Path
by Prince'sTale
Summary: Jacob Smith is your average everyday pureblood. Except for the fact that he has never rode a broomstick, nor has he ever seen ghosts. Once he gets to Hogwarts, that all changes. Jacob takes a different path than Harry and the Trio, see how here. OCPP SSLB
1. Diagon Alley

**July 17, 1991**

I bought this stupid book, my mom called it a diary but that is way too girly for my taste, so I'll call it my…writing book. I got a letter from Hogwarts, the school my mom and dad went to when they were young. Hmm. Mom and Dad young…scary thought. Anyway, when I got the letter, my mom was so happy that she said that we were heading to Diagon Alley the next morning. I love that place. So many interesting shops…. For a birthday present, which was yesterday as well, my dad bought me a beautiful dark feathered owl. I named him Midnight.

We went to Flourish and Blotts and got my spell books, that reminds me, I need to read them later, and then we finally went to Olivander's and got my wand. It was a very interesting experience. I walked in the shop, alone might I add, Mom and Dad wanted some ice cream from Fortescue. I saw a boy who is so annoying. Well, that is my first opinion anyway. He had dark hair, fair skin, and a very annoying Irish accent. But that's not important. I waited for the annoying boy to leave, and then I started to notice the man behind the counter. He was an old man, very little hair, and he was strangely creepy. He said, "Hello Mr. Smith." I wondered how he knew my name for a second, but then remembered the task at hand.

I said, "Mr. Olivander, I need to get a wand." I said that rather shakily, might I add. Then the man laughed at me! He laughed at me!!

"Of course you do! That's why you're here. So let's see how this works…." I then tried about six wands before he found the perfect wand. It was 12 inches, made from oak, and had a phoenix feather core. I kept staring at it with awe. My own wand, finally. The man continued talking, "This wand is rather swishy, so it will most likely be good for charm work."

I then paid for it, and quickly left the shop. I found my mom and dad pigging out on ice cream. The nerve of them, I was in there being scared to death by a crazy senile old man and they were pigging out on ice cream. That's just what I needed. I showed them the wand. My dad was pleased with it.

"Reminds me of my first wand, it was made of holly and had a unicorn hair core. It was perfect for transfiguration work." He then continued eating his ice cream. We had three stops left, the Apothecary, to get my potions stuff, Madame Malkin's, to get my robes, and then into Muggle London to get some stuff for my mother.

"I bought you this diary so that you could record your thoughts. I remember when I had one. Very fun thing diaries are." I couldn't help but roll my eyes. I'm not a girl! Only girls have diaries! Boys have writing books! Doesn't everyone know that?

After they finally finished pigging out, we headed to the Apothecary. That place smells horrible. Madame Malkin's was a very uneventful place, though I saw that annoying boy again. And this time, he was with his mother, who also had an Irish accent. Gosh they are annoying! Hopefully the boy isn't in my house in Hogwarts.

We got home later that night. I quickly started reading my spell books. I looked at a few simple ones, and my favorite so far is Wengardium Leviosa. It supposedly makes objects fly. I couldn't make this writing book fly though. Maybe it's a dud spell. Only in there to make children think that it will make all of their possessions fly. I'll have to ask Dad later. I think I will. I'll write what happens when I get back.

I just asked Dad if it worked. He laughed at me too. First that weird wand guy and now my own father?! Was I doomed to not have a normal wizarding career? Maybe I'll be in Hufflepuff. I hope not. That's the house of pansies, so my cousin said, who graduated last year. I better not worry about that quite yet. I don't even know how they sort you into houses! Mom said that she wants it to be a secret. She said to read Hogwarts, A History, one of the books I bought to day. So far it is very interesting. Gryffindor and Ravenclaw sound like the best houses in my opinion.

And I'm not biased! Just because my mom was a Ravenclaw, and my dad was a Gryffindor doesn't mean that I favor them! Or does it? I better go to sleep and stop rambling for now.

**July 19**

I'm starting to get really bored. I've read most of Magical Herbs and Fungi, my book for Herbology, and I've read part of Beginner Trangsfiguration. Transfiguration sounds really hard for now. I'll have to study, and study well!

I also succeeded in doing a spell! It only took six hours to get it right! I can now make my wand light up a little. Very little. I asked Mom, and she said to keep practicing. Practice makes perfect, she always says. Her Ravenclawness is coming out. I hate it when that happens.

I might write a little more depending on how bored I get! Hopefully once school starts I'll be writing more often, and have things to write about. Gosh I'm such a dweeb.


	2. Preparing for the Adventure Ahead

August 30

It's almost time to go to Hogwarts! Mom is about to go crazy; she keeps moaning that her little boy will be gone for a whole year. What she doesn't know is that I will be coming home for Christmas, and maybe Easter. Knowing Mom, she will probably send me a letter everyday of the next school year. I don't know what she'll do without me. Oh well. I'll have to worry about Mom's lack of a life later. And perhaps even laugh.

Dad, on the other hand, is acting as if that I'm already gone. I've been practicing some of the spells in my books, and so far only Lumos works for me. It still won't give me a very large beam of light. But, I haven't even been to a single class yet.

I'm still nervous about what house I'll be in. Mom says not to worry, but that makes me worry even more! I hope that I'm not in Slytherin, or Hufflepuff. I heard that You-Know-Who was even in Slytherin. I would hate to be in that house. And since I'm usually a loner, I can't help but wonder if I'll be able to make friends. Maybe that annoying Irish boy will turn out to not be so annoying after all. Nah. Being a Pureblood, I hope that I'm not naturally expected to already know how to do all kinds of magic.

Midnight, my owl, is being a very annoying one. He keeps me awake all night. So I eventually open my window and let him fly all night long. I feed him an owl treat when he gets back. Gah, I spoil that bird. That reminds me, I have to let him out now.

I let Midnight out. He is now soaring through the cloudless night sky. I better get some sleep.

August 31

Today is the last day of summer. Tomorrow is the day. I get to go to Hogwarts. Insert the dramatic music here. Maybe Hufflepuff isn't so bad. Just as long that I'm not in Slytherin. I need to get reading on Hogwarts, A History. That book is so fascinating; so far I've learned that the ceiling in the Great Hall is bewitched to look like the sky outside. At least I'll get to know the weather before everyone else does.

I found an interesting spell in the Standard Book of Spells, Grade One this morning. It's called Rictusempra. It is supposed to be the tickling charm. Interesting. I can make people keel over from too much laughter. That's scary, you know. I wonder who the Professors are. I know that Professor Dumbledore is the man. He is the head of the school. And I know that Professor McGonngal is his right hand gal. And that some guy named Flitwick teaches charms.

I just remembered. Harry Potter is supposedly starting Hogwarts this year. He defeated You-Know-Who when he was only a baby. I wonder how he did it. I bet that he must be a really powerful wizard already. Even though he was forced to live with Muggles for 10 years. That poor boy…. Or maybe he is a dark wizard himself. That would explain why You-Know-Who tried to kill him as a baby. He didn't want another Dark Lord competing with him. That makes some sense. I'll have to get acquainted with the boy. The train leaves at 11:00 tomorrow. I hope that it is a very relaxing train ride. I think that I may read on the way. You can never be too prepared for what comes ahead. Or so says my inner Ravenclaw.

Midnight is currently asleep, seeing as it is midday, and not midnight. I hope that he is having good dreams. He's most likely dreaming of some snowy female owl. Snowy owls sure are beautiful. I saw one in the shop last month in Diagon Alley. I bet that the person who gets her will be very pleased. I think that I'll read A History of Magic for a while. While I'm on the subject, who names their child Bathilda?

I just finished reading the first couple of chapters. It's a very interesting history. I hope that the Professor isn't that boring. Or I hope that he is interesting. I hate boring teachers.

Well, Notebook, I'm going to go eat supper now. Mom made some kind of stew. I think she called it "Ravenclaw Surprise." There had better not be any raven claws in there. I think that I might die, right then and there. I just noticed that I capitalized Notebook, as if I'm referring to this book as Notebook. I hope that that is not one of the signs of madness.

Ravenclaw Surprise was a very…odd dish. It had an aqua like color to it. And it smelt of goats. When Mom wasn't looking, I saw Dad vanish his away. I looked at him hopefully, but no avail. Isn't that horrible? At least now I have blackmail on my father. I need some sleep, and a potion to get rid of nausea.


	3. Setting of toward Hogwarts

September 1

Today is the day. I finally get to go to Hogwarts! But, am I ready for this? Harry Potter will most likely be on the train. I hope that no one swarms him when they find out that he's there. People probably will. I could see that happening. Most likely a fury of people that love and adore him for defeating You-Know-Who, and some of You-Know-Who's followers children attacking him verbally and magically for what he did. That poor, innocent child. I can at least make a small beam of light to blind them. Maybe.

I have to finish getting packed. All that's left to pack are my underwear and my writing book. Then I should be ready.

I'm now on the way to the train station. Mom and Dad keep reassuring me that I'll be all right, but I'm not too sure. What if I'm in Slytherin? I don't even like snakes! I prefer eagles and lions. My inner bias is coming out.

Mom says that to get to Platform 9 and 3 quarters I have to walk through a solid wall. I think and hope that she is lying. I don't think that walking through a solid wall will be painless. We are almost to the station, only a few more minutes until I'll be on my way to Hogwarts. Of course my parents want to be there early. It's only 10:15. I'll be on the train for a long time before it's time to go.

I'm now on the train. I'm sitting in compartment 14. Hopefully no one disturbs me. Midnight is hooting peacefully. And Mom cried for about 10 minutes before she finally let me leave. I ensured her that I would come home for Christmas, and then she decided that it was my time to leave. I got sat down in an empty compartment. And here we are.

Looking out of my window I see all kinds of people with red hair, about nine of them I'd say. The mother looks exasperated, the twins look very mischievous, the youngest boy looks excited, the girl looks sad, and the oldest boy looks very pompous. The twins hugged their mother good bye, and announced that they would send her a Hogwarts toilet seat. What odd people. The pompous boy got on to the train and marched to the compartment marked Prefects. The twins met their friend who had a giant tarantula. The youngest boy and a boy with very messy black hair boarded the train. The boy sat down in the compartment next to mine, and the red headed boy continued to walk about the train.

Oh my goat. That boy in the messy hair is Harry Potter. I see the scar. Like a bolt of lightning it is. I want to talk to him, but I'll wait. At least for a while longer. The young red head boy sat with him. They talked for a good long time. I heard the whistle of the brilliant scarlet train blow. Midnight freaked out and hooted loudly as an attempt to match the whistle. A boy opened my compartment door. By my cousin Fabian, it was that annoying Irish boy. And he brought a friend.

The friend is a black boy. He is quite tall, and he seems very happy. They both sat down in the seat across from me and started to talk.

"Hey, I'm Seamus Finnigan. And this is me friend, Dean Thomas. What's your name?" said the Irish boy who must be named Seamus.

"I'm Jacob Smith," I replied with as much confidence I could muster.

"So what is your family like? I'm a half-blood, and I'm a decent flyer."

"I'm a pureblood, and I've never rode a broom before."

The boy called Dean finally spoke. "I'm a Muggleborn. It was a great shock when the letter arrived. And I'm so glad that I came here."

"Didn't I see you in Diagon Alley? I remember seeing you at Olivander's and at Madame Malkin's."

"Yeah, Seamus, you did. Sorry I didn't speak to you then." I replied without much truth to it.

Then a girl with very, very bushy hair interrupted us.

"I'm Hermione Granger. Have you seen a toad, a boy called Neville lost his."

We replied no, and the girl left.

Then we had a little bit more idle talk before a witch with a trolley appeared.

"Anything off the trolley dears?" She said sweetly.

"I'll take two chocolate frogs and a pack of Fizzing Whizbees." Seamus said with confidence.

"I'll take the same thing he had, and a box of Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans." I said.

"I'll take a chocolate frog," said Dean.

We handed over our money and the witch left us with plenty of sweets to keep us entertained for a while. I got a couple more wizard cards to add to my ever growing collection. I got Rowena Ravenclaw and Merlin. Seamus got Merlin and Godric Gryffindor, while Dean got Dumbledore.

"Wow. The pictures move here…." Said Dean with surprise.

"Do they not move in the Muggle world?" inquired Seamus.

Whether the pictures moved or not, we never found out. A pale boy and two incredibly large blokes entered our compartment.

"I'm Draco Malfoy, and this is Vincent Crabbe, and Gregory Goyle," the boy said rudely. The boys called Vincent and Gregory cracked their knuckles threateningly. "Are any of you pureblood?"

"I am," I said calmly.

"And what about this riffraff you have in here with you? Would you like us to get rid of it for you?" The boy added with a sneer.

"No. They are quite all right. Blood status does not mean everything."

The pompous red headed boy then came in and forced them away. The boy then added, "I'm Percy Weasley by the way," and then continued to leave quickly. We then decided to get changed into our school robes, as night was quickly approaching.

I then started reading The Standard Book of Spells until the train stopped. We were told to leave our things on the train, so I put the book back in the trunk and stepped outside.

"Firs' years o'er here!" said a loud booming voice. I went to the source of the voice, with Dean and Seamus, and then we were told that we were going to sail across the lake to the school. 

It was a very uneventful trip, except for a round faced boy fell into the water.

We arrived at the school. A stern looking woman escorted us inside. "I am Professor McGonagal. I teach transfiguration, and I am Deputy Headmistress here. There are four houses to this great school of magic. You will be sorted into your house depending on what qualities you have."

I stopped paying attention and started to let my eyes wander for a while. We were then to go inside and stand single file. Professor McGonagal got an old stool and a hat and placed in the middle of the hall. The other students stared at the hat, so I did too. The hat started singing a song about where to put students. When the song finished, Professor McGonagal started the sorting.

"Abbot, Hannah!"

"Hufflepuff!" shouted the hat.

When Seamus was called, I watched him walk up there and place the hat on his head.

"Gryffindor!!"

When Draco Malfoy was called up there, the hat said, "Slytherin!" as soon as it touched his head.

"Potter, Harry!"

After a while, the hat called, "Gryffindor!!"

The applause was huge. People were clapping so very loud at the Gryffindor table.

"Smith, Jacob!"

I walked over to the hat and placed it on my head as everyone else had done.

The hat talked to me, in a voice that only I could hear: _"Ah. Where to put you Jacob Smith? You have a perfect mind, and a lot of courage. It would appear that your courage is even stronger than your intellect though. That means: __**Gryffindor!!"**_

I walked over to the table and waited for the sorting to end. Dean Thomas and the young red headed boy joined our house as well. Then the headmaster spoke: "As we are all hungry, I will not keep you long. I will say a few words and the words are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! And Tweak!"

The man was mad! He is a genius though. There is no denying that.

Just then the plates appeared with food on them. We all ate while having much happy conversation. I was just so happy that I was finally at Hogwarts, and that I was in Grffindor.

After the feast, we headed to the Common Room. The room was huge. There several large red squishy arm chairs by the fire and then Percy showed us to our beds. I went in and made sure that all my stuff was there. I remembered Midnight. Percy must have noticed the look on my face because he said, "All the owls are in the owlery, you can visit him anytime you wish." Thank Merlin.

I sat down in a squishy armchair and talked to Seamus and Dean for a good long while then we saw Harry Potter walking down with Ron Weasley. Many stares followed him as he wandered around the Common Room. We were all so tired, and so happy that it felt as though sleep it self was calling us. We went to the dormitories and changed in to our pajamas and said good night to one another.

It was official. My first year of Hogwarts had begun.


	4. The First Day

September 2

What a day! Oh my great-aunt Susan what a day! It starts out like this: 

I woke up early this morning. I woke up to the snoring of The Boy Who Lived and his redheaded partner in crime. Dean and Seamus were all ready up. I walked down the stairway to the Common Room. To my surprise, it was nearly empty. I saw the bushy haired girl, Hermione I think she was called, reading in a red armchair. I saw Dean and Seamus talking to each other animatedly. They really hit it off well. I sat down next to them and began to talk, when a gorgeous creature flowed down the steps from the girl's dormitory. Wow…Never have I seen someone so beautiful. Not that the girl next to her was ugly, she was nothing for the beautiful girl beside her. Without thinking, I asked Seamus, "Who is that?"

He called her Parvati Patil. What a lovely name. And he called the girl next to her Lavender Brown. Her parents must be artistes. By the by, I believe that I may be in love.

After a while, we, we being Seamus, Dean, Parvati, Lavender and I, went to the Great Hall to eat breakfast. After a little while, Harry Potter and Ron Weasley came down. People immediately started gaping at his forehead. That poor, poor boy. He is in for a rough couple of weeks. Professor McGonnagal passed out course cards during breakfast. I was very excited for the first day of classes.

First I had Charms. The Charms Professor, Professor Flitwick, is an odd man. He is about two and a half feet tall. He squealed when he got to Harry's name. He then fell over onto his stack of books. He is going to feel that one in the morning. The class itself was very interesting. He started out by using a spell that makes objects fly. Yeah, that spell I tried to do over the summer. We were all very excited and ready to learn how, but Professor Flitwick told us that first we have to get down the wand movement. It's Swish and Flick by the way. So for the rest of the period we practiced swishing and flicking. I think that I'll be able to make objects fly in no time. I should practice that later.

Second was Herbology. It was headed by a happy looking witch called Professor Sprout. She is head of Hufflepuff house. She looks like a Hufflepuff all right. She started out by telling us that this class will be different from most others. We will not be doing very much wand waving, and that the plants in here are dangerous. After that lecture, we mingled a bit with the other students. The Hufflepuff's are not that interesting. I became decent friends with a couple of them, Ernie McMillan and Hannah Abbot. They will end up together one of these days. I just know it. After that, we headed into the first greenhouse. This was a very interesting class. It's by no means my favorite, but it's all right.

After Herbology was Potions. It was taught by a man with revoltingly greasy hair. Professor Snape, he called himself. He decided to pick on Potter. He asked him several questions, which nobody, other than myself, and Hermione, could have known at this point. Snape was being awful to Harry, and when Harry decided to tell him to ask Hermione, he took a point away from Gryffindor. That man is so awful, but he's nothing compared to the Slytherins, which he runs their House, and to top things off, we have this class with them. We then got ready with our cauldrons and we tried to make a potion to cure boils. Snape kept swooping over us like a large bat, criticizing our work as he went along.

Thankfully after Potions was lunch. I sat with Lavender, Parvati, Seamus and Dean again. We talked about our lessons, and then we even tried the Wengardium Leviosa charm. My fork almost rose, it moved a little anyway. It was very hard not to stare at Parvati. She has beautiful eyes and smile. She and Lavender were as close as Seamus and Dean were. Did everyone have a best friend besides me?

After lunch was Transfiguration. I had been really looking forward to this class. It seemed so awesome to be able to turn things into others. McGonnagal started off by turning her desk into a pig and back again. We were all very excited, and she must have noticed because she said that it would be a long time before we would transfigure animals into furniture. We took a lot of difficult notes, which I still have a writer's cramp from. Then she handed us a needle and told us how to transfigure it into a toothpick. Only Hermione made progress, it had changed very little, but it still changed. McGonnagal even flashed Hermione a smile. I also need to practice that, but where can I get needles?

After that very interesting lesson, was Defense the Dark Arts. Everyone was looking very forward to this class. After all, no one ever lasted more than a year teaching this class. This year it was the former Muggle Studies professor, Professor Quirrel. Professor Quirrel stuttered a lot. Every other word almost. He talked for what seemed like ever on vampires, werewolves, and he even mentioned dementors. Not much of the class was still paying too much attention.

The last class of the day was History of Magic. During the summer I read part of the book, and it is pretty interesting. I had a little bit of hope left for the professor. We all sat down, I sat next Seamus and Lavender. Then out of the chalkboard a ghost appeared. He was the professor. Professor Binns. He should have been called Professor Boring. Because he went on and on and on about stuff that no one was paying attention to. Hermione tried, and she did the best out of all of us. After about fifteen minutes, I noticed that Ron and Harry were playing hangman, Neville was reading a book about Herbology, Dean had even fallen asleep. I tried to pay attention, but after a while I gave it up and started talking to Seamus. Parvati and Lavender were talking animatedly, and Parvati kept giving me a beautiful smile.

After that was dinner. Dinner was a very noisy affair, and for good reason. The older students were yelling across the hall to each other, Percy Weasley, the prefect, tried to keep order. It was hard not to laugh at his feeble attempt, but I managed. The five of us talked about how boring Binns was and how we were going to manage Potions. On the other side of us, Harry and Ron were talking animatedly about their lessons, and still, people were staring at him. He was greeted by the people saying, "Did you see him?"

After Dinner, we headed to the Common Room. After telling the Fat Lady, the portrait, who would call a portrait the Fat Lady, we headed in and sat in some of the squishy red armchairs by the fire. We talked for what seemed like hours, and then Seamus brought up Parvati and Lavender, who had went to bed a few minutes before. "Lavender is a very beautiful girl…Lavender has the best smile ever" and things to that nature were all we heard for a while.

After we heard the love story of Seamus, Dean asked if I had ever been on a broomstick. I replied no, because I am very clumsy. Super clumsy. I may try to walk with poise and grace, but that isn't my style. I fall all the time.

At about 11:00 we went to bed, and changed into our pajamas, and now here I am. I had better stop writing, due to the fact that I need my sleep desperately at the moment.


End file.
